


As the Story Goes

by RainFlame



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: EdWin Week 2020, F/M, Fluff, Humor, One Shot Collection, Post-Series, Romance, cute couple stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainFlame/pseuds/RainFlame
Summary: Complete! A post-series, somewhat-related collection of one-shots for EdWin Week 2020. Featuring predominantly Edward and Winry.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 41
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

“I hope you’re about to tell me you’re joking.”

Winry wondered briefly how Ed could make such a phrase sound like a threat. Especially when he was half buried in the closet, his voice muffled from shoving his face between a pair of sundresses.

Winry rolled her eyes, far beyond being intimidated by her husband of three months. “Come on, Ed, it’s for the kids!”

“We don’t have any kids!” he called, leaning out from his clothed prison to give her a baleful look. The effect was ruined by the printed flower skirts draping over his head.

She shifted on the bed to get better access to her left pinky toe as she dabbed on a bright layer of red lacquer. Apparently, nail polish was all the rage in Central, and Riza Hawkeye had sent her a bottle of her favorite shade. Riza had always had good taste. “Not _our_ kids, the neighborhood kids!”

“Winry,” he huffed, finally wresting his way out of their closet where he had been trying to organize their clothes in the newly shared space. “The only kids interested in automail are that nerd from down the street and his little sister.”

“And I’d like for you to give them a demonstration! He’s interested in an apprenticeship.”

“I’m not some trick pony for you to trot out just because you found someone half the gearhead you are,” he growled. “Why can’t you use one of the fifty models you have cluttering up the kitchen table?”

“Firstly, there is _one_ full arm and _one_ finger I’m working on for Mrs. Jeers and Toby, and they’re just a patch job; they’ll be out of the kitchen in two days. Not everyone destroys their automail, you know. Secondly, automail is meant to be appreciated on the human form! And since when were you so worried about clutter?”

“Since I married you and inherited about one square foot of closet space,” he said, eyeing the sundresses, shirts, sweaters, slacks, and the substantial collection of clean-but-stained overalls lining most of the closet.

Winry didn’t think a girl should be constrained any one color or style of overall, and she didn’t expect a man that spent half his childhood wearing the same three black shirts to understand.

Okay, so maybe he made a fair point . . .

“Fine, I’ll see about getting rid of some of the overalls.”

“How generous,” he said, plucking an old, threadbare number from the rack. It was grease-stained to the point where the blue resembled navy, and had enough holes in it to rival swiss cheese.

“Not that one.”

Ed looked at her incredulously. “But look at it!” he held it up like one might hold up a dead bird, an arm’s length away and with his lip curled. “It’s barely holding together!”

“It has sentimental value.”

Ed squinted at her. “They’re _overalls_.”

“Sentimental overalls.”

Ed groaned, putting it back on the rack. “We are going to drown in overalls.”

“So, about the demonstration . . .”

She could tell by the scowl on his face that she was winning.

“Fine,” he growled. “I will walk in a circle for your dumb little lecture, but then I get to set fire to half of these.”

“Four.”

“Four?! There have to be at least sixty in here!”

She sighed. “Fine. Ten, but I get to choose them. And I’ll even let you help me paint the living room.”

Ed scowled. “Why does it feel like I’m not really winning here?”

She flashed him a winning smile. “Because you’re not.”

With a growl, he stalked across the room, planting his two flesh-and-blood fists on the bed and leaning, bring his face eyelevel with hers. “You’re lucky I love you,” he announced roughly, brow furrowed and golden eyes intense.

Then he kissed her.

She blinked in surprise but kissed him back. His lips were smooth under hers as she turned her head to get a better angle.

As suddenly as he had started, he broke the kiss but didn’t pull away immediately. Unfortunately, she held an opened bottle of nail polish in one hand and the brush in the other, so pulling his face back to meet hers was not an option.

At the moment.

“What was that for?” she asked breathlessly.

He leaned forward so their foreheads touched, somehow never breaking eye contact. “I love you, you stupid gearhead.”

Her lips quirked. “And I love you, alchemy freak.”

He planted a chaste kiss on her forehead, then turned away, disappearing into the closet once more.

Well, no one could accuse her husband of being normal. She stared after him, the smile still lingering on her lips. “Now what are you doing?”

“Picking out the overalls I get to burn.”

Her smile evaporated.

_“Ed!”_


	2. Memories

Ed remembered a time when he could sprawl across his bed and not worry about someone else's elbow making friendly contact with his face.

Those were the days, huh?

Ed opened his eyes with a scowl. He'd almost been asleep, too. He had been up late reading— _again_ —and by the time he'd looked up, Winry had already turned in for the night. He probably shouldn't have been surprised by that; it was almost 3 in the morning, after all. He just assumed the way she would spontaneously pull all-nighters right beside him that she'd have a little more stamina when it came to sleep deprivation.

The elbow was a surprise, though.

Carefully, he pulled his face out from underneath her arm. "Are you asleep?" he asked, his voice way too loud in the still night.

Winry only responded with a soft snore.

"Then keep your elbows to yourself," he grumbled, gently tucking her arm against her side before easing himself down behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Not only was it a nice way to sleep, it was safer for his face.

He breathed in the citrusy scent of her shampoo and closed his eyes.

She twitched, then moaned softly, curling around Ed's arm. He frowned, pulling her closer almost subconsciously, as if he could protect her from whatever was disturbing her rest.

Then, she started whimpering, and Ed recognized a nightmare when he saw one.

Back after The Promised Day, Al had nightmares every time he closed his eyes. Ed wondered if it had something to do with his brain trying to sort through the horror show that had been their lives for the previous four and a half years, after he'd been stuck in the suit of armor without sleep. Ed made it a point to stay with him as much as possible, waking him every time it seemed too cruel not to, and reassuring him that he was alright and he was safe.

Ed was also very well acquainted with nightmares himself. He couldn't remember a night where he didn't see Nina's face, or Al's body disintegrating in front of him, or the suit of armor, slumped and lifeless in the corner and his little brother nowhere to be found. Sometimes he dreamed all his limbs were replaced with automail, or that he was still impaled down in that mineshaft, or Father won, and his friends and family were all dead.

His subconscious had a lot of material to work with.

He appreciated that he didn't usually wake up screaming the way he did when he was younger, and sometimes the nightmares actually morphed into something more friendly before he woke up. But there were times his wife shook him awake, blue eyes concerned and afraid, and she'd ask if he was okay.

Winry fidgeted again, and Ed resituated his hold, tucking her head under his chin. "Shh, Win, it's just a dream," he promised, rubbing circles on her shoulder. She seemed to relax, and Ed thought they were past the worst of it.

Then she jerked awake, sitting straight up with a gasp.

Ed sat up, too. "Winry?"

Slowly, she turned to face him, blue eyes wild and a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Ed?" she asked, her voice small in the dark.

He frowned. "Winry, are you okay?"

She looked like she'd seen a ghost, the pale light of the moon in the window accentuating a haunted quality in her eyes.

At least, he hoped the light was mostly to blame.

She held still for a moment, just staring at him, like she couldn't quite believe he was in front of her.

Then she threw herself on his chest and sobbed.

Not sure what to do, Ed just leaned back, wrapping both arms around his wife as she cried onto his bare chest. A small rivulet traced its way down the side of his stomach.

He let her cry for a moment before asking, "You want to talk about it?"

She took a shuddering breath, her hands clinging to him like he might disappear. Why was she crying? What had she seen?

"I . . . I dreamed you were dead."

Ed tensed.

He _hated_ making her cry.

"You . . . and Al," she sniffed as he resumed rubbing her back. "You never came back . . . I kept waiting, but you never came—" her voice broke.

"Shh," he hushed, carding his fingers through her long blonde hair in a way he hoped was soothing. "I came back. I'm here."

How often had these sorts of dreams come for her while he was out galivanting across Amestris? How many nights had she woken up in a start, all alone, only to cry herself back to sleep without anyone to tell her it was just a dream?

Ed had always had Al nearby, and more recently Winry. He rarely had to wake up alone and convince himself that the monsters in his head weren't real.

But Winry had been alone.

Well, she wasn't going to be alone anymore. Ed promised himself that much.

Slowly, she relaxed into his arms, her sobs dying into quite sniffs, the cold night air raising gooseflesh where her tears had pooled and run over as he whispered in her ear that she was safe, and so was he.

They were safe.

And soon, her breathing evened and she fell asleep, using his chest as a pillow.

He couldn't really say he minded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who predicted this would get angsty? Anyone? xD
> 
> I know this is 3:00 am on a Wednesday morning, but I'm going to pretend I posted this Tuesday. Just so I can pretend I kept my schedule.
> 
> Okay, I am all kinds of nervous about this because my editing is super limited due to me doing this daily challenge thing and I always feel a lot better after I've tweaked something to death, so I apologize if things are not up-to-snuff on this fic :') For similar reasons, I will be replying to comments from the last chapter tomorrow, because everything is so rushed, and it's 3:00 am xD
> 
> If you have the time, drop a comment, and I'll see you next chapter c:
> 
> God Bless,  
> -RainFlame


	3. Lecture

The Kaiser kids were just _weird_.

Ed peered through the crack in the kitchen door, catching a glimpse of the two children standing in the living room. The oldest, Fritz, was probably about twelve, and Alice, his little sister, was probably around eight but Ed wasn't very good with guessing kid ages.

They favored one another, both with black hair that shocked against their pale complexions and eyes that could have been a dark blue but looked more violet than anything. They were built small and lanky with a grace that was more creepy than not, especially on little kids. Both of them looked like they had spent their entire lives in a basement hiding from the sun, only emerging from their havens after dark to feast on the souls of the living.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but they had _really_ perfected that mildly psychotic thousand-yard-stare, especially little Alice . . .

"I thought we agreed that they didn't need to be let in the house," Ed said, shutting the door.

Winry sighed, gathering up a few automail parts from the train wreck that was their kitchen table. "I never agreed to anything of the sort, Ed. They're not stray cats. I told you, Fritz is interested in an apprenticeship."

"There's something seriously off with those two," he said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Especially the tiny one." Ed would admit, it was pretty satisfying to be on the other end of that spectrum.

"Really, Ed?" Winry said with an incredulous look. "Are you saying you're scared of a nine-year-old little girl?"

Okay, she was _nine_. Anything below eleven and above seven looked the same to him. "I'm saying there is something off with her. I bet if Ling or any of his lackeys were here, they'd tell you the same thing. Bad chi or Juju or something."

"I bet she's really sweet. She's just going through an awkward phase or something."

Unconvinced, he turned back to the kitchen door, cracking it open to make sure the kids hadn't wondered off.

He spotted Fritz right away, waiting patiently on the couch and unnaturally still as he waited on Winry.

But where did the little squirt go?

"Mr. Ed?"

Ed made a sound that was definitely _not_ a yelp. And he definitely didn't jump, either.

He looked down to see two large eyes peering into his very soul from the crack in the door.

He repressed a shudder, pulling the door open not because he wanted to, but because it was polite. "Yes, Alice?" he asked uncertainly.

She regarded him with a cool detachment little kids were not known for. "Could I have some water, please?"

Ed hoped the smile he plastered on his face came across as natural. "Sure, kiddo. Why don't you sit with your brother, and we'll be there in a minute?"

She seemed to be sizing him up, the way a cat looks at a mouse. Then, she gave one solemn nod and turned around, heading back to her brother.

Ed shut the door again, and this time he _did_ shudder. "Not. Normal."

Winry rolled her eyes and lifted the box off the table with a smile. "Why don't you meet us in the living room after you get her water?"

"If only we had some holy water . . ."

"Ed!" she admonished. If her hands were not full, she'd probably have buried a wrench in his skull. "They are both very polite, sweet kids! She may be a little bit odd, but they both came to see automail, and we're going to show them automail!"

"Great. Then we can get them out of our house and start laying out those little decorative garlic things everywhere."

Winry stared at him like she was trying to decide what size of wrench to bludgeon him with.

"The tiny one looks like she wants to murder us in our sleep!" Ed defended.

She sighed. "Just get out here, Ed." And with that, she swung the door open and left him alone in the kitchen.

Grumbling under his breath, he filled a glass with water and followed her out, making sure to note Alice's location before proceeding further into the living room. Alice watched him approach from her seat next to her brother on the sofa, taking the proffered glass with an inordinate amount of eye contact.

She was just so _creepy_.

Winry pulled an armchair over to the coffee table where she had set up a little display of several types of automail material and an example of various limbs. "Alright," she began. "Here are some examples of old designs we've used at Rockbell Automail."

Fritz leaned forward to look at the materials, eyes gleaming with a subtle interest. It was the most life Ed had seen in the kid's eyes. He had that gearhead-sort-of-glow that Winry got when she received the ' _Automail Monthly'_ catalogue in the mail. "What kind of steel is that one?" he asked, pointing to a leg. It was one of Ed's old prototypes Winry had retired. She was always trying to make his leg better, and he smiled at the thought.

"This one is a ferritic and martensitic chromium alloy," Winry explained. "This is what I make Mr. Ed's automail from."

Felix turned his eyes on Ed. "The kind you used to beat bad guys?" He said it the same way he might have announced what he ate for lunch.

"That's right," Ed agreed, unable to contain the pride in his own voice. "Her automail has saved my life plenty of times. No one makes them like Winry."

Alice was still staring at him. "Can we see your leg, Mr. Ed?"

Ed paused, that warm feeling slipping. "Uh—"

Winry smiled at Alice. "I think we can go ahead and have that demonstration, Ed."

More than a little uncomfortable with anyone that wasn't Winry staring at his automail, Ed fidgeted but acquiesced, bending down to role his left pant leg up past his knee.

Both kids stared at the metal in fascination. Well, Fritz looked fascinated. Alice still looked like she was contemplating a homicide.

"That's really cool," Fritz said with a soft smile.

"Mr. Ed?"

Ed looked at Alice, "Yeah?"

"Mrs. Winry must love you very much to make you something so strong."

Ed blinked.

Well, that was unexpected.

It was very _nice_ of her. He didn't know if it was normal, but it was definitely nice.

"Oh . . . um, yeah, I guess so," he admitted. Heat rushed to his cheeks, so he busied himself rolling his pants leg back down in an attempt to hide it.

"Wait, can you walk with it?" Fritz asked. "Please?"

Ed sighed, pulling the pant leg back up and taking a few laps around the coffee table. He stopped by Winry's chair with his arms crossed. "Happy now?"

Fritz gave a small smile that didn't quite meet his eyes and nodded.

"Are we done here?" he asked his wife.

"Sure," she said, picking up a forearm from the table in a clear dismissal.

Ed was about to make a run for it, but Alice had gotten up at some point and appeared at his side.

He did _not_ jump.

She looked up at him with her big, empty eyes and it took all in Ed's power not to take a step back.

Then she grabbed his hand in her small icy fingers, leading him to the couch. Ed didn't have the presence of mind to resist as she guided him to sit next to her brother. She crawled up on the other side of him, sitting close enough to touch and completely disregarding Ed's personal space.

"You should learn with us," she said by way of explanation.

Fritz nodded his agreement.

Ed looked at Winry helplessly, but she was busy trying to smother a grin behind her gloved hand. The traitor.

Ed sighed, slumping in the sofa with his arms crossed. "Fine. Let's learn about automail."

Satisfied, the little girl and her brother turned back to the presentation, while Ed tried not to wriggle uncomfortably between his captors.

XxXxX

Two hours later, the pair left for home before it started to get dark. Alice had told Ed to make sure he was still here when they came back before she and her brother started off.

"So she can take out my kidney when I'm not looking," Ed grumbled once they were at the main road and out of earshot.

"I think she likes you. I didn't know you were so good with kids," Winry said mildly as she reclined against the porch railing.

Ed scowled. "Firstly, I'm great with kids. Secondly, I don't think those are normal kids. The older one just hides it better."

"Do you think you would be just as good with your own?"

It took Ed's brain a long second to process that. "Why do you ask?"

Winry shrugged with a smile. "Just curious," she said, watching the two retreating figures making their way down the road in the evening sun.

Annoyed at her evasiveness, Ed snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. "We'll have kids when we're ready to have kids."

"And when is that?"

"Whenever we want."

She smiled. "How many?"

"I don't know. We'll stop when we get tired of raising them."

Winry turned into him, pressing herself against his chest. "How about we just start with one and see how that goes?"

He leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You have good ideas."

"That's why you married me. You needed someone to counteract your awful ones."

"You're right, that's why I kept Al around all these years," Ed agreed. "I don't think it was quite Equivalent Exchange when I traded him for you, though."

"You say the least romantic things," she sighed dramatically.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Fine. I love you a whole lot. Better?"

This time, she rolled her eyes. "And I love you, too."

"Enough to make me strong automail?"

"That's right," she said with a grin. "Want to come help me work on your newest upgrade?"

Ed sighed.

But being Winry's guinea pig was a small price to pay to spend time with his wife.

"I guess. But only as long as I don't have to sit in on the next automail class."

She grinned. "Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest one yet, and only a little late xD
> 
> I think Edo really loves calling other people short now and lording it over people's heads that he isn't short anymore, and definitely never was, either. Being in denial is complicated.
> 
> Ed does such a good job of humoring the creepy kids c: Look at him go.
> 
> Maybe the next prompt will be up later today, or maybe tomorrow xD Who's to say?
> 
> Drop a comment if you have the time, and I'll catch you next update :)
> 
> God Bless,  
> -RainFlame


	4. Burn

Ed was not sulking.

Because Ed was not someone that sulked. Sulking was something Mustang did, and he and Ed were two completely separate people in literally every way.

So, Ed wasn't sulking.

But he was creatively avoiding his wife after the knock-down-drag-out they'd just had and simultaneously feeling bad about it.

Winry seemed to be of the mind that the trash should be taken out for burning before the bin got too full. Ed completely agreed, he just had an appreciation for efficiency. There was no need to waste the effort to take it outside if it wasn't completely full, and he'd managed to stack enough scrapped paper on top that there wasn't any room for his peach peel—the fuzzy texture was _disgusting_ —and Ed had put it on the countertop to be dealt with later.

Winry had promptly lost her mind.

And Ed might have raised his voice a little bit, too.

And then they were both yelling at each other, and then stopped talking all together. Shouting at each other was not unusual in-and-of itself; Al had often joked that it was their love language, but Alphonse or Pinako had always been there to mediate.

This time, their first real fight after being married, and there was no one to mediate.

If Ed were one for introspection, he might note that it scared him a little bit. Because deep down, he knew that he could potentially be an idiot, and there were multiple ways to screw this up. What if he'd actually done it this time and they never spoke again?

But introspection was uncomfortable, so he put it out of his mind and decided to wait on her to get her act together and come apologize to him. Because he definitely wasn't the one with the problem.

He'd even taken the trash out and everything. He was so generous.

So, while he sat there and watched their paper refuse burn and smolder, he waited patiently.

But she never came out to apologize.

With a sigh, he walked back into the house, equal parts of him hoping she'd be there in the kitchen and that she wouldn't.

She wasn't.

Before he could decide what to do with that information, the phone rang. He picked it up with a gruff, "What do you want?"

 _"Hello to you, too, Brother,"_ Al's voice crackled through with amusement.

Ed perked up immediately. "Al! Where are you?" Alphonse had been in Xing teaching at the Xing-equivalent of a university since he'd been well enough to travel. In their bimonthly phone calls, he'd been discussing planning a trip back to Amestris sometime soon, just to spend a couple of months with friends and family before going back across the desert.

Judging by the time of day, Al was either up extremely early, or he was a lot closer to Resembool than Xing.

_"I just arrived in Youswell," he said. "My train for East City leaves tomorrow. I should be back home in a couple of days!"_

A wave of excitement rushed through Ed's veins. "That's great, Al!" After years of traveling the country together, being apart from Alphonse wasn't always the easiest thing in the world. He missed his little brother, and in his enthusiasm, he almost forgot that he was mad at Winry until Al brought her up.

_"So, how's Winry?"_

His good mood immediately soured. "She's . . .fine."

Ed could practically hear the frown in his voice. _"You're possibly the worst liar in the world, Brother. And I've seen half of it."_

He crossed one arm over his chest. "Shut up, Al. It's _fine_ , she's _fine_ , we're just . . . fighting."

 _"Nothing new there, Ed."_ He didn't sound concerned.

"This is different!" he protested. He didn't want to bring up the little tickling of fear in his gut. "I'm right and she's wrong, and I really need her to own that."

_"Is this something really big and personal?"_

Ed thought a moment.

"Yes."

_"What happened?"_

Ed explained in as much detail as possible how terribly and deeply Winry had wronged him.

And yet, Al didn't sound impressed. _"The trash? You're not speaking to each other over the trash?"_

Ed was in too deep to back out now. "I'm taking it as an attack on my character."

Alphonse sighed. _"Your character is terrible, Brother."_

"Hey!"

_"You know what mom always said to us about apologizing? The person that apologized first was either the person that was wrong—"_

"Which is definitely Winry."

_"—or the person that is the most mature. Which I'm afraid might also be Winry."_

"I _am_ mature!"

_"Then go apologize!"_

Ed opened his mouth, but no response came out.

His little brother maybe had a decent point, and he hated when that happened.

He made a growling noise in the back of his throat. "Fine. _Fine,_ I'll go apologize to her. But I still think she's wrong."

 _"That's fine, Brother,"_ Al said with a smile in his voice. _"I'll assume if there is still a house standing when I get there that it went well."_

"No one likes a smart aleck, Al," Ed grumbled. "Go find an inn or something. Remind them whose brother you are if they try to gauge you.

 _"I don't think I'll have any problems this time around,"_ Al said. _"I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Fine, bye."

_"Bye!"_

Ed hung up and glared at the phone for a few moments, then with a sigh, headed down into the automail shop.

He didn't need Al to hold his hand while he apologized. He'd do this just fine without him.

He found his wife sitting at her worktable, screwdriver in hand as she furiously worked some poor, hapless screw into half an arm with more force than was probably necessary. The metal squeaked in protest, but Winry was oblivious to its cries for mercy, and Ed wondered if maybe he should give her another half hour to cool off before entering her sanctuary when she was clearly both angry and well-armed.

But there was the possibility that waiting made it worse, so he shuffled in, aware that his bare left foot made a very obvious _clack!_ against the hardwood floor and it was too late to back out now.

He hung behind her for a moment, trying to gather his courage.

"What do you want?" Winry snapped, sudden enough to make Ed flinch.

"Um," Ed began. "I was just—"

"I don't want to talk to you right now."

"I'm trying to tell you—"

"Edward Elric, it's not about the peach peels, it's about having the decency to—"

_"Winry Elric, I'm sorry!"_

She froze.

Then she slowly turned to look at him over a bare shoulder, blue eyes wide. "You . . . what?"

"I _said,"_ Ed ground out. "That I'm _sorry_."

Ed wasn't good at saying sorry. He might have been a bit too prideful to ever be good at it, but Alphonse had certain standards when it came to the apologies Ed gave other people—like _Mustang_. Al liked Ed to be specific about what he was apologizing for, so Ed took a deep breath and kept his eyes glued to the floor.

"You said it was important to you that the trash was taken out before it was too full, and I ignored that and put trash on the counter too, and I shouldn't have let the situation blow up like I did, and I'm sorry."

There. He'd said it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Winry hadn't moved.

"I'm sorry, too."

He looked up, startled. Winry was looking at him, her expression equal parts surprised and thoughtful. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I was frustrated, and I'm sorry."

Well, that had gone better than expected.

He dared to step closer, and when she didn't raise a wrench or other convenient weapon to fend him off, he stepped right behind her and put his arms around her. She leaned into his touch, and he knew he was forgiven.

"Thank you," she said softly, bringing her gloved hands to rest on top of his arms.

He leaned forward, nuzzling her hair and breathing in the scent of her, his relief a palpable thing in his chest. He hadn't ruined their marriage. "I love you, you idiot," he said, voice muffled by her hair.

"I love you too, you jerk," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

He blinked, horrified. "Why are you crying?!"

"Because I love you, okay?!" she snarled, turning around in his arms to kiss him hard on the mouth.

This time, he blinked in surprise.

But he wasn't complaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never written so much in such a short amount of time. I'm wondering if my (admittedly, rather low) quality is suffering for the sake of speed xD
> 
> One more. We can do this.
> 
> Side note: the wind is blowing at a sustained 35 mph right now, with gusts up to 55. I've already gone out to rescue my plants that have been blown to every corner of my backyard. WHAT IS THIS WEATHER. It's so windy that, at the right angle, it literally snatches the air from your nostrils so it's hard to breathe xD
> 
> I know ya'll were very interested in knowing that. Don't we all feel closer already? :'D
> 
> I'll stop.
> 
> For now.
> 
> If you have the time, please drop a review, and I'll see you for the last prompt c:
> 
> God Bless,  
> -RainFlame


	5. Butterfly

There wasn't much in the world that Ed loved more than a nice spring day.

He was in the middle of clearing a patch of prairie grass for Winry's vegetable garden. She'd gotten it in her head that she could garden, despite Ed's assurances that the only things she could avoid killing with her black thumb were rocks. He'd like the think the two dried and withered tomato plants drooping in their pots by the front door were proof enough of that.

After she explained to him just how wrong he was while making vaguely threatening motions with her wrench, Ed started to come around to the idea.

So, he was out in the coolness of early morning, digging large shovelfuls of grass and soil and tossing it to the side, enjoying the quietness of a Resembool day.

Then Winry screamed.

Ed dropped the shovel without thinking, vaulting over the porch steps in one leap.

He tore the door open, made a guess, then flew up the stairs, almost twisting his real ankle in his haste. His hands reflexively poised to clap as he shouldered open their bedroom door.

Fresh laundry looked like it had been thrown around the room by a tornado. Winry stood in the corner, a pillow clutched in front of her like a shield, her wide blue eyes transfixed on the wall over Ed's head.

Slowly, deliberately, Ed turned around to look over the door, ready to face—

A . . . moth?

Ed gritted his teeth.

"Winry." Ed spoke in careful, measured words, eyes glued on the fluttering creature. "Please tell me there is a homunculus in the closet."

"Ed—"

"Or Kimblee's ghost."

"Edward!"

"I'll accept the boogeyman."

_"Ed,_ it jumped out of the drawer while I was putting the laundry away!" she hissed. "You know I hate those things!"

Ed pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he was annoyed to admit came from working with Mustang for far too long. He turned to face his wife. "Winry, I almost killed myself running up those stairs!"

She glared back at him. "They're fuzzy, dusty, and disgusting! And it _scared_ me!"

_"I thought you were in danger!"_

_"I was!_ It _touched_ me!" she held out her hand like it was leprous.

"It's just a moth!"

"It's disgusting!" she repeated. "Just get rid of it!"

With a weary sigh, Ed turned back to his opponent. The white little beast flapped against the wall as futilely as Ed's attempts to reason with his wife. In one quick motion, he swiped it from the wall and headed to the window, its wings beating against his palm. As he passed by Winry with his captive, she held up the pillow and let out a little whimper.

"Win, how did you handle moths before we got married?" he asked, opening the window one-handed and letting the insect—bug?— go free.

_"Shut it shut it shut it!"_

With a groan, Ed slammed the glass shut.

Only then did Winry, one of the strongest and most capable women Ed knew, lower the pillow she'd been using as protection.

"There. I saved you," he said, wiping moth dust on the front of his work shirt.

"And who says chivalry is dead?" she asked, but the look of relief on her face belied any sarcasm.

Ed squinted at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, sinking down to sit on the edge of the bed. "It just scared me."

"You had everything under control," Ed agreed, sitting down beside her.

She smiled. "Thanks for saving me." She put a hand on his, squeezing his knuckles.

"It's my job," he replied, turning his hand over so he could interlace his fingers with her slim ones.

She smiled. "My hero. How can I ever repay you?"

"I accept love." He thought a moment. "And pie."

"It's your lucky day," she smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I've already got the apples sliced and ready to bake."

Ed perked up at that. "Then why are you up here doing laundry?!"

She rolled her eyes. "Because laundry needed folding."

"Pies needs making," he said, sliding one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, scooping her into his lap, then standing up with his beautiful wife.

She shrieked and giggled. "What are you doing?!"

"We're going to go downstairs, make pie, and while it's baking, we're going to make out."

"Isn't Alphonse due back today?" she asked as Ed swept her from the room, taking the stairs carefully. Stairs were tricky when you couldn't feel your foot.

"Yep."

"So, we're going to make out where your poor little brother might accidentally walk in and see us?"

"A little emotional trauma never hurt anyone."

"You're going to scar Al for life."

"It's character building." He set her down on the kitchen island, then gently took the side of her jaw in his hand and pulled her forward to kiss him on the lips.

She pulled away all too soon and he frowned. "What about the pie?"

He sighed. "I really need you to focus right now."

He pressed his lips against hers again.

Things were just getting good when the kitchen door opened.

Ed and Winry froze, her lower lip still trapped between Ed's teeth.

Both opened their eyes, turning slowly to see Alphonse, dressed in a travel suit with a suitcase thrown over one shoulder and horror in his innocent eyes.

No one moved for a solid minute.

"I'm going back to Xing," Al announced numbly. He turned and walked out of the kitchen, the door falling shut behind him.

Ed gave Winry her lip back, straightening up slowly. "That was . . . fast."

She looked between the door and Ed. "Think he'll be okay?"

"Like I said," he began, helping her off the counter, "character building."

"Pie probably wouldn't hurt, either," Winry suggested.

Ed nodded sagely. "Good idea. You distract him with pie, and I'll go convince him that I was just giving you mouth-to-mouth."

"I don't think that's going to fly, Ed."

"Trust me," Ed insisted. "He's probably already blocked the whole thing from his mind. I think it's called 'selective amnesia' or something."

"If you say so." She didn't sound convinced, but turned to pull the diced apples from the refrigerator.

"Wait, one more," Ed said, looping his arm around her waist and pulling her back for one more kiss.

Then Ed released her, taking a steadying breath before striding into the living room to try to salvage whatever was left of his little brother's innocence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was supposed to be "butterfly," but the moth issue is weighing heavily on my soul right now (see below for story time and the inspiration for this one-shot).
> 
> This fic is done, whoooo!
> 
> Got a little spicy in that kitchen there for a minute xD Poor Alphonse :'D
> 
> So I wasn't sure that all these little one-shots were related, then, viola, they all became related somehow. Except that second one, which I guess could be loosely related?
> 
> I've never churned out this much material in such a short amount of time. Thank you so much you guys that have stuck with me for this little fic, and a special shoutout to those that have taken the time to review! I know it's not my usual line, but I had fun with it, regardless, and I hope you have too :) 
> 
> Now, back to your (ir)regularly scheduled angst.
> 
> Drop a review if you have the time, and I'll see you over on SSB and DOA c:
> 
> God Bless,  
> -RainFlame
> 
> Story Time:
> 
> The moth battle is real right now. 
> 
> Okay, so say what you will, I'm not one for killing bugs. I just feel bad about it, they're just living their bug life and just because they have the audacity to be in my house doesn't mean I want them dead, unless they've committed a crime punishable by death (like STINGING ME IN MY BED, but what's important is that I'm not bitter about that at all).
> 
> So I'm visiting my parents, and they have a moth infestation at the moment, and I don't mind them as long as they're not flying at my face, but the problem with moths is that THEY'RE ALWAYS FLYING AT MY FACE. I also have this fear of them attacking me in the night as I sleep, so when I was going to bed and I walk in my room and this moth starts trying to attack me for no good reason, and I didn't want to kill it, and I couldn't catch it and take it outside because the door would have SCREAMED when I opened it and woken up the whole house, so I turned the lights off and lured it from my room with my phone light.
> 
> It felt like one of those movies where they're trying to lure the monster out of the dark, and they can't see the monster, but they know it can see them.
> 
> As soon as it fluttered it's dusty moth butt out of my room, I booked it down the hall because it was after me.
> 
> All silently, because the rest of the fam was asleep in the living room. 
> 
> And like the good sibling I am, I let it gently flutter into my lil' sister's room, because she made the poor decision to leave her lamp on in the middle of a moth infestation. 
> 
> She should'a left the lamp off, is all I'm saying.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so it's EdWin week and I've never ever done anything like this before, and I really wanted to participate in something. But I'm late, because it's me.
> 
> But I'm here, because it's quarantine.
> 
> Side note: romance scares me because I'm much more comfortable with platonic fluff, but we'll see what happens lol. I'm literally flying by the seat of my pants here, but I'm going to see if I can write one of these a day (or at least every couple of days) and maybe complete all five prompts by Saturday, but we'll see.
> 
> Again, this is me we're talking about. Let's not get our collective hopes up :'D
> 
> Please drop a comment if you have the time, and I'll see you tomorrow or something xD
> 
> God Bless,  
> -RainFlame


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